


Faith

by flootzavut



Series: Lie to NCIS [26]
Category: Lie to Me (TV), Lie to Me (TV) (mentioned), NCIS
Genre: Angst, Awesome Foursome, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, JxK, Kate Lives, Kibbs, Lie to NCIS, foursomeverse, mostly NCIS - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 14:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8581477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flootzavut/pseuds/flootzavut
Summary: Kate unexpectedly wakes alone.Set between C2&3 of Jealousy.Crib notes for the fandom blind included.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is set within the crossover 'verse, but there's one fleeting reference to LTM and that's it, so it's decidedly NCIS friendly and you probably don't need to have read any of the crossovers to follow it as a little Kibbs flangst.
> 
> Kate lives!AU. Post LTM canon, playing fast and loose with NCIS canon as it suits me, in a 'verse where Kate is still alive and working for NCIS.
> 
> NCIS folks: Gill and Cal are experts in lie detection, using facial expression (reading emotion), vocal stress analysis and other expertise. The Lightman Group helps various law enforcement agencies and other people when the truth is at stake. Emily is Cal's daughter.

* * *

_**Faith** _

* * *

 

Kate isn't sure what woke her from the soundest sleep she's had in some time. Gibbs spent considerable time and effort last night proving all Gill's theories of his skill in bed barely scratched the surface, then wrapped her in his arms and pulled her in close. She fell into exhausted, utterly satiated sleep almost instantly.

The memory clarifies why she's awake. She's still blissfully warm and satisfied, still snuggled deep into bedclothes that smell of Gibbs, but the man himself is missing.

For some minutes she lies there, in case he's just using the bathroom or getting a glass of water, but eventually curiosity overcomes her, and she peels herself up and out of the bed.

There are clothes scattered over the floor, and she hesitates for a moment. They may have spent the night together - or at least most of it - and she's pretty sure this is no one night stand, but she's only been to his house a handful of times over the years. The idea of wandering around it naked feels a bit weird, though she doesn't really like the idea of getting dressed again, either. She doesn't want to give him the wrong impression, make him think she's leaving, and she most definitely wants to spend the rest of the night (who's she kidding? the rest of the weekend) in his bed.

Eventually she picks his t-shirt up from where it was discarded in their rush to get naked and slips it on - as a compromise - then pads out into the hall.

Common sense suggests she should check the house methodically, room by room, but a sure instinct leads her downstairs and to the door of his basement. She takes a deep breath and pushes it open.

"Gibbs?"

There's a sigh. "Hey, Kate."

He sounds resigned, and she doesn't know what to make of it, but at least he doesn't sound like he wants her to go away.

She walks slowly down the stairs, and when she sees him, sitting on a tatty couch in the corner in sweatpants, he's smiling. It's lopsided, it doesn't quite reach his eyes, he looks... haunted. But he also seems reasonably pleased to see her.

The hungry expression he aims at her once he takes in how little she's wearing is reassuring, at least. "Look good in my shirt, Katie."

She crosses the room and perches beside him, a few inches between them, still worried she's somehow intruding. To her surprise and delight, he wraps one arm around her back and hooks the other under her knees, pulling her unceremoniously into his lap, his grip tightening around her as he buries his face in her hair.

He takes a few deep, slightly shaky breaths, strokes his hands up her legs and under the t-shirt, and while it's undeniably enjoyable to have him touch her so hungrily, she gets the strangest impression he's just checking she's actually real.

"I'm sorry, Katie," he murmurs at last.

She frowns, looks up. "What're you sorry for?"

He laughs, though there's no humour in it. "Oh, lotsa stuff. Running away. Taking so long to do something about this, 'bout us. Being a coward." He chuckles, and his voice is softer and warmer when he continues. "Sorry you got stuck with a grumpy old bastard."

She smiles, snuggles in closer, presses a kiss to his throat. "Maybe I like grumpy old bastards. Didn't that ever occur to you?"

His laugh this time is sudden and much more genuine. "Kinda thought you had more sense."

"Well, my mom did always say I had horrible taste in men."

"You wicked little..." He trails off, shaking his head, but she can feel the laughter rumbling in his body at her cheekiness

She strokes her hand over the skin of his chest, soft and gentle. "What's wrong?" She fears asking, but she's seen him lock people out too many times, seen the damage it's done to his relationships. She's determined not to let him fall back into those habits if she can possibly help it.

He sighs, nuzzles his face back into her hair, tightens his arms around her as if she can keep him from falling or drowning or whatever he's afraid of.

"'M scared," he murmurs eventually. It's hardly news, but it's unlike him to be so candid.

"Of what?"

He shrugs. "Getting hurt. Hurting you." He pauses, and when he continues his voice is quieter still. "Losin' you."

She shakes her head vehemently. "You can't lose me."

He presses a delicate kiss to her forehead. "I don't got a good track record on this one, Katie."

"I think you might underestimate how stubborn I am, Gibbs."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." She tilts her head up to look at him. "I'm not so easy to get rid of."

He grimaces. "I'm not so easy to live with."

She cocks an eyebrow and grins. "In what universe do you think it's somehow escaped my notice you're completely impossible?"

He lets out a reluctant chuckle. "Okay. Point taken."

She reaches up a hand to caress his cheek. "I know you're a pain in the ass, Gibbs. I happen to think you're worth the trouble."

His forehead creases slightly as he looks down at her, as if he's confused, having trouble processing what she said. She holds his gaze, wills him to see her honesty.

Eventually he sighs and shakes his head. "I just... can't help thinkin' you deserve more."

She rolls her eyes. "You're an idiot."

He raises his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"Since when does anyone really get what they deserve?"

"So that makes it okay for you to get lumbered with me, then?"

She shrugs. "Your words, not mine." She tilts her head up to brush her lips over his, tempts him into a soft, heartfelt kiss, and she can't help smiling when he lets out an achey, needy noise into her mouth. When she pulls away, his eyes stay closed, and when she strokes her thumb over his bottom lip, he takes a shuddery breath. "I'm not lumbered with you," she whispers. "I want you. All of you. Good, bad and ugly. You're not perfect. So what? Neither am I. But I want you."

His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows hard. When he looks at her again, his expression is still unconvinced, but he's drinking her in like cool water on a hot day. "God, you're gorgeous."

She giggles. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh. You're pretty hot for a grumpy old man."

He bursts into laughter again. "You got a damn cheek." He tickles her waist and up her sides, and she's so caught up in it she can't find any words to answer him back. She grabs on to his shoulders as she giggles uncontrollably.

It's almost unbearable, because apparently he's a genius at finding ticklish spots, and besides that, it's  _his_  hands on her skin,  _him_  looking at her with hungry eyes, and it's distracting and delicious and deeply satisfying.

His fingers slow, no longer tickling, but caressing, savouring her. "God, Katie," he rumbles in her ear, a smile in his voice, "D'ya have any idea how damn temptin' you are right now?" He skims his hands over her back. "'S like you're just beggin' me to rip this off you-" His fingers pluck at the thin cotton "-and take you to  _pieces_."

"Maybe I am." She really loves being able to make him sound this way. "Maybe that's exactly what you should do."

He finds her nipple and pinches just tight enough to elicit a gasp. Kate bites her lip, but can't muffle the quiet 'Mmph' escaping from her mouth, or the shudder when he cups her breast and squeezes. Her breath catches as he massages slow and sure, and she moans softly, her eyes slipping closed. "Please, I- oh, God."

"Beautiful."

Oh, he's dangerous. One minute he's all needy and wanting, and the next she's dissolving into a puddle in his lap. Apparently she can kiss goodbye any idea of having the upper hand for more than thirty seconds at a time. Though given how not having the upper hand feels, she reckons she can live with being at a disadvantage.

His laughter rumbles in her ear. "You're gorgeous, Katie. 'Specially when you're all desperate. Absolutely stunnin'."

She tilts her head up to find his mouth again, and it's slow and seductive, and she finds herself pushing herself against him any and every way she can. There can never be enough 'him' to satisfy, she wants to be overwhelmed, to drown in this sensation. If she could bear to stop kissing him for a few seconds, she'd suggest they go back to bed, or maybe have a hurried fuck on right here on the couch. His fingers trace all over her, and everywhere he touches her, she's shivering and melting and wants more.

When they finally surface, she's breathing so hard she can barely find the wherewithal to murmur his name. "Oh, hell." He's way too good at this.

"Hopin' that's a good thing."

She laughs, and even to herself she sounds overwhelmed. "Definitely," she manages.

He has her face cradled in his hands, and his expression as he studies her is love and desire and uncertainty and sadness all at once. "God, Kate."

"What?" The pendulum has swung back the other way, and she doesn't know why he'd be so sad after kissing her like that. She'd like nothing better than to wipe every negative emotion off his face and out of his mind, but she has no idea how. No idea how to reassure him except to repeat the things she knows to be true. "I love you, Jethro."

He blinks at her, narrows his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Yes." She brushes her hands through his hair and leans in closer. "I'm here to stay. I'm not going anywhere. I love you, okay?"

He shakes his head, though it doesn't seem like a denial. "Kate, you know about - about Shannon and..." He trails off.

There's a crack in his voice, and she holds him tight. "Yes?"

"Not sure I should be putting this all on you, is all."

"All what?"

"All..." He's having more trouble than usual expressing himself, and she tries to stay patient. "D'you know how long I wanted you, Katie? God, I... I just, I never knew how to do something 'bout it without feeling like-" He stops suddenly, takes a breath. "Shannon woulda liked you."

She tilts her head up at him. "Gibbs, I'm not a replacement. I wouldn't try to be. But I love you."

He studies her. "No," he murmurs finally, "you ain't a replacement. You're... somethin' new." She's not entirely sure what he means by that, but it sounds like a good thing, so she'll worry about the details later. He lets his forehead rest against hers. "Love you, too."

She didn't really expect him to say it back so readily, can't stop herself from grinning. "Well, then."

"Simple as that, huh?" His mouth curves into a smile, and he peers down at her, amused, uncertain, curious.

"Might as well learn to live with it. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" He looks downright wistful now, and it's an expression she's not used to seeing on him.

"Promise."

His eyes trace the lines of her face, as if he's searching for truth, or for a lie. As if he's still having enormous difficulty understanding, never mind believing. It aches at her to know he finds it so hard to accept.

She slides her hand up around his head, pulls him down into a kiss, makes it tender and thorough and passionate. He groans into her mouth, and his body is on board even if his brain is still floundering. One of his hands tangles in her hair, and the other wraps around her again, under the t-shirt, splayed against the side of her breast as he pulls her close. Oh, she loves his hands. So strong and capable, so tender and loving.

If she can't give him assurance and confidence with her words, well... she doesn't know if her body will work where words don't, but she's prepared to give it a damn good try. She pours everything she has into the kiss, and he moans again as he sinks into it. She can feel the exact moment when he surrenders and simply lets himself enjoy, and it's magic.

"We'll figure it out," she assures him when they come up for air. Her voice is soft and breathy again, but she tries to inject it with all her certainty. "We will figure it out. I promise."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"How can you be so sure?"

She shrugs. "I have faith."

He chuckles. "Glad one of us does, I guess."

"I have lots. More than enough to go round."

He smiles and shakes his head. "God, Katie, I dunno what I did to deserve you, but I'm damn glad I did it."

She grins and wriggles happily against him. "Me too." She lets her fingers brush against his cheek. "Now, are you coming back to bed or what?" She shivers dramatically, adding a few vocal 'brrr' noises for effect. "It's cold down here but it's lonely up there by myself."

He shakes his head down at her, but his smirk is definitely genuine.

"What?"

"Never expected you to be so eager to get me back in bed, is all."

She grins again. "Well it took you long enough to work out I wanted to get you in it in the first place. Let's not waste any more time, huh?"

His hands are moving on her back, restless, hungry, and his need for her is almost enough to keep the cold out. But still. She'd rather be tucked into his Gibbs-scented bedsheets with no clothing at all between them.

He laughs, and his arms tighten around her as he gets up from the couch. She wraps her legs around his waist and lets out a happy noise when one of his hands shamelessly grabs her backside.

He chuckles again as they head back upstairs. "Can't believe I get to touch your ass," he admits. "Did I mention before how absolutely fuckin'  _fantastic_  it is?"

"Not in so many words, but I got the picture." She slides a hand down his back to return the favour. "Kinda like yours, too."

"Good to know."

When they get back to his bedroom, he tosses her lightly onto the bed, and she giggles as she lands in a messy heap, then grins widely as he sheds his sweatpants and leans over her to grab the hem of her shirt. "Don't think you'll be needin' this again tonight."

She laughs as he strips her out of it, then wriggles happily as he climbs on top of her. They still have a lot of stuff to talk about, and there are issues that aren't going to be solved in one night with a few 'I love you's, but for the moment, his naked skin against hers is more than enough to make her happy, and she has a feeling it's going to be a really great weekend.

_~ fin ~_


End file.
